An Aspiring Native, Day 6

There is a man who sits on the end of the first bench in the Anacostia metro station nearly every morning.  I’ve started calling him Chapstick Man, because he has a large suitcase nearly spilling over with chapstick, and he has two shotgun shell belts slung across each shoulder, classic Rambo-style, filled with “rounds” of chapstick.  He’s a regular there at the station, and people frequently buy from him.

It has rained every day in the morning that I’ve gone to my internship but one or two, prompting me to buy a new umbrella – the pocket-edition just doesn’t cut it, and I end up wearing a darker shade of grey by the time I arrive at the Capitol South stop.  I’ve figured out exactly which metro-car I need to get on to be closest to the escalator at each stop, and I’m getting to where I don’t need to pay attention to where I’m walking on my morning commute.  The routine in that is nice.

Now, a week or two after I wrote those first two paragraphs, Virginia has a job at the Family Research Council.  It hasn’t rained a day on us since she’s gotten a job, making the morning commute that much nicer.  We usually part ways at L’Enfant Plaza, and yesterday, I saw a man get tazed as he tried to graffiti a metro car.  Never a dull moment here in DC.

Today, I literally ran into Marco Rubio and John McCain.  There are “superstars” like them all over the buildings I work in, and I am continually star-struck, regardless of my political affiliation.  The job search is still going for me, but I’ve met tons of interesting people – most of them Chiefs of Staff.  Virginia kids with me all the time that she lounges around look at Facebook on the weekends, while I’m emailing some of the most powerful people in the nation.  But she’s currently the one bringing home the bacon, so I consider this to be a moot point.

During my time here, I have resolved even further that – once I “make it” – I am going to do everything I can to help aspiring “little people.”  Both the people who have been extremely helpful to me and the people who haven’t have shown me the importance of investing in the “up-and-coming.”  And I can’t wait until I’m up high enough on the pecking order to do that.  I’ll start as soon as I can.

Things I’ve been thinking about recently:

1)      I’d love to go to a Nats/DC United game.

2)      Wanna shut down Congress? Start an Interns Union and go on strike. #freelabor

3)      I need to play my trumpet more.

4)      I want to work Senate side.

I’ll write again soon.

J